Poll: Hillary unlikely '08 president

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 31, 2006

ALBANY - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is in strong shape for re-election in New York this year, but most voters in her adopted state think it is unlikely the former first lady could win a 2008 presidential race, a statewide poll reported yesterday.

And, 51 percent of those voters told Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion that Clinton, "because of who she is," would be treated more harshly than other candidates in a 2008 presidential campaign. Thirty-one percent of voters said she would be treated the same as other candidates.

"She comes with controversy," said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff.

Last week, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup national poll found 51 percent of the respondents said they definitely would not vote for her in a presidential election.

Clinton, who is seeking a second six-year term in the Senate this year, has not said if she will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.

Forty-nine percent of New York voters in the Marist poll said Clinton should not run for president while 41 percent said she should. While 59 percent said they expect Clinton to run for president, 62 percent said it is unlikely she could win.

Conversely, 53 percent said Republican Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, should run for president in 2008, while 41 percent said he should not do so.

"We are focused on 2006," said Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson.

Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel declined to comment.

Lame-duck Gov. George Pataki, who is eyeing a bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, fared worse. Just 25 percent said he should run for president while 69 percent said he should scrap the idea. That is an improvement for Pataki from a September poll when just 17 percent of New York voters said he should run for the White House.

In the Marist poll, 54 percent of voters said they would definitely vote to re-elect Clinton to the Senate while 32 percent said they would definitely vote against her.

Marist's telephone poll of 854 registered voters was conducted Jan. 24-26 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 6 percentage points.